


on our way to something more uncertain

by thefigureinthecorner



Category: The AM Archives (Podcast), The Bright Sessions (Podcast)
Genre: AU where Joan is atypical, Atypical Joan, Gen, Joan can stop time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 10:45:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19789264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefigureinthecorner/pseuds/thefigureinthecorner
Summary: It had never been impossible for Joan to be atypical, but by the time she’d hit her late 20s she’d given up on thinking she might ever be.And yet.AM Archives spoilers through episode 12. Title is from Shake Me by The Dear Hunter.





	on our way to something more uncertain

When Mark’s voice suddenly cuts out, Joan’s first instinct is to think that something’s happened to him and she begins to panic even more. Helen is not someone she could handle right now if she tried, and she frantically whirls around to see what’s happened. But what she sees is not the murderer hunting her down, nor is it anyone who can help them. The world is just very, very still.

Andrea is dead, the room is still dark, and Mark isn’t moving.

He’s frozen in the middle of reaching out for her, face scrunched up in concern, mouth open as though he’s saying something. As Joan looks around more, though, she notices he’s not the only thing that’s stuck; the wall clocks, all of which are battery operated and none of which should be affected by the power being out, have all stopped ticking. The emergency lights lining the hallways have stopped humming, their gentle flickering halted. The pool of blood beneath Andrea has stopped spreading.

But Joan— Joan’s moving. She’s the one thing that isn’t stuck. Unlike Mark and the clocks and the lights and Andrea’s blood, she isn’t frozen in space, and she’s pretty sure there’s only one thing that can explain the situation. An ability she’s only read about, never encountered herself; a rare, but not unheard of, Class D ability. Stopping time. And the fact that she’s still moving means…

…It means this was her. It was her doing. She’s the one who stopped time.

She feels numb. Vaguely nauseous. Tiny bit dizzy. Kind of like the ground is crumbling out under her feet. She sits down hard on the ground, elbows on her knees and head in her hands, trying to breathe through the shock. This isn’t— this isn’t supposed to happen. She just  _ stopped time _ . She’d known for a while now that her being atypical was never impossible, but over time it had seemed less and less likely that she’d be another addition to the atypical Bryant bloodline.

And yet.

And yet here she is, staring at her brother staring through her at the spot she was kneeling when it had happened.

She doesn’t know how to make everything start again, but she figures maybe, maybe this is similar to Sam’s ability when it first started; an atypical self-defense mechanism of sorts. She had been panicking, after all, when hers began. Being calm might kick the universe back into gear.

She closes her eyes and breathes. She doesn’t open them until she hears Mark again.

“—nie, hey, stop it! ….Joanie? What the hell— did you just—?”

She looks up to meet Mark’s confused eyes. He’s confused for good reason; to him, she had just vanished and appeared a foot to the left. She tries to speak a couple times, but the words get caught on the back of her tongue. She takes a shaky breath, clears her throat, and finally manages to eke out an explanation.

“I… I’m not sure, but I think I just… stopped time.”

**Author's Note:**

> I was lowkey hoping that the shock of discovering Andrea’s body might cause Joan to unlock some atypical ability, and although I may have been mildly disappointed that it didn’t happen, guess what?? It’s AU time babey
> 
> I don’t know if I’ll do much else with this. I feel like that’s a good place to end it, but if any new scenes pop up where stopping time would be Fun And Cool And Useful, I might add more chapters. Also even if I don’t do that then maybe once the series is over I’ll add a “Joan Tells The Others” chapter.
> 
> Who knows? I sure don’t.


End file.
